


it's alright

by pepsipink



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Mentions of OT4, Sexuality, Sexuality Crisis, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-11-02 06:36:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10939011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pepsipink/pseuds/pepsipink
Summary: Iris ponders for a minute, staring at the floor as she still sits atop of the suitcase.“Does that mean I can date girls?"Gladio pauses for a moment, looking at Iris with slight curiosity.“Yeah. Why? Is that what you wanna do?”





	it's alright

**Author's Note:**

> this is a headcanon dump, but I really wanted to write somethin' about Iris anyway. ;v; 
> 
> i guess this is like kind of personal but also canon complaint why dont we ever get to see world of ruin iris i want iris the daemon slayer to be A BUFF TATTOOED BADASS 
> 
> title is simple but it comes from this incredibly ([relevant song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqleB7zfMTw))

She isn’t _quite_ sure when she figured it out.

In her youth, there weren’t any signs that pointed her in the direction of her sexuality. She went to an all girls school, sure, so she felt pretty desensitized to the things that she might’ve noticed had she been in a co-ed environment. The uniforms weren’t anything _sexy_ – it was school, it wasn’t _supposed_ to be. But many of her classmates liked to spice up their outfits, with cute keychains, hairpins – they’d roll up their skirts some, they’d get skirts that were _much_ longer than was required, they’d wear cardigans, or they’d _secretly_ leave their shirts unbuttoned some.

Iris was no stranger to that concept, and found herself following fashion trends pretty closely. She was an Amicitia, after all, and had a reputation to keep up. _Because_ of her status as a daughter of the King’s Shield, she was fairly popular amongst her classmates. She was kind to everyone, and was frequently invited to outings – some of which were co-ed, giving her opportunities to meet other boys her age.

She didn’t really know why she wasn’t into the idea of dating. It wasn’t Gladdy – he was big and intimidating, and a _bit_ protective of his little sister, but he fully realized that she was her own person, and she could totally kick anybody’s ass who gave her unwanted advances. It wasn’t her parents; her father gave her enough freedom, even though he did slip into that _daddy’s little girl_ mindset at times. It was harmless, and he only wanted what was best for Iris.

The closest to interested in someone she _got_ was Noctis. Noctis was the crown prince, so that idea was _completely_ off limits. (It wasn’t _completely_ off limits, but it was a bit far-fetched to ever become reality.) But there was something about Noctis that made Iris start to wonder.

Something she liked about Noctis was his androgyny. He was beautiful, she thought, his features were quite feminine, though he was certainly more masculine in terms of fashion. Noctis was good at expressing himself the way he wanted; on certain days he might dress according to what he was feeling. He looked good in anything. She knew her crush on him was _completely_ obvious, and he rejected her advances nearly every time, yet she couldn’t quite help herself.

And then it sort of turned into a matter of was she _jealous_ of him. She doesn’t think so, because she likes her body, and how she presents herself. She likes wearing skirts, and wearing dainty jewelry, and she likes makeup even though she doesn’t get to wear it that often. But she likes having her hair cut short, and she can beat up _any_ boy that came her way. She liked video games, and athletics, and was a sucker for action packed movies.

She comes to a conclusion of, well, that’s just Iris, and that’s how she’s going to be.

She’s kind of thrown in for a loop when she enters high school, another all girls situation, and the girl sitting next to her is _super_ nice. She’s so talkative, and friendly, and asks if they can sit together at lunch. When Iris finally gets the chance to look at her, she realizes that this girl sports the same kind of androgyny that Noctis does, and it sparks a feeling in her that she thought only Noctis could bring.

After that, nearly every girl Iris sees is cuter than the last. It’s high school, so maybe it was just puberty, or whatever, but the more she pays attention, the more advances she sees being made on her. And what was the _most_ surprising, was that she was making advances towards other girls as well.

She holds hands with a girl named Mars after school one day, and she gets her first kiss at the age of 15, right before they had to part their separate ways because their houses were in the opposite direction of one another.

Gladio was never upfront about it, but she knew that he had similar experiences. He’s had girlfriends, _serious_ girlfriends, but she knows that Gladio likes to sit on the couch with Noctis and watch movies, and sometimes Ignis comes over so they can work on career stuff, but sometimes the door is left open and they’re laying in bed, holding one another while they laugh about dumb things Noctis said when they were hanging out earlier. She sees photos on Gladio’s snapchat of Prompto giving him a kiss on the cheek, or of all four of them in a purikura machine sticking _awfully_ close to one another.

In Insomnia, same sex relationships were pretty normal. It wasn’t a taboo subject, or anything, so knowing that Gladio was bisexual (pansexual?) wasn’t a huge shock. She thought his relationship with the others was cute, and wished him the best.

Having her first kiss, though, really did open her eyes to a lot of things.

Girls were _incredible_. They were so cute, and always excited about everything. Iris loved the positivity she got from them, and even though she had her eyes set on Mars, she knew that this was a good path she was headed down. She had plenty of opportunities to be involved with a boy, but they just never did it for her. She didn’t get that funny feeling in her gut when they smiled at her.

So, maybe, Iris was gay.

She sits in her living room, watching as Gladio tried shoving everything he possibly could into one suitcase. Noctis was arranged to be married to the Oracle, Lady Lunafreya within a few days, and Gladio was going to accompany him on the journey to Altissia.

Though she felt bad that Noctis had to marry someone that he hadn’t seen in _years_ , it somewhat hurt to see her first love marry someone at _all_. Her feelings for Noctis were still a bit convoluted, but for now, she was happy with Mars and wouldn’t have dreamed of breaking her heart. If anything, she just wanted Noctis to be happy and live life according to how he saw fit.

“Iris – can you sit on this thing for me.” Gladio says, pressing all of his weight into the suitcase in an attempt to force it closed. “I’m tryin’ to zip it up and it’s _stuck_.”

She doesn’t even hesitate to bounce up and to Gladio’s side.

“This is because you packed all of your hair care products, Gladdy. I thought _I_ was the bad one with all of the bathroom stuff.” She teases him, pushing her big brother out of the way so she could kneel on the suitcase for him, putting as much of her weight into it as she could possibly manage. “Go on, now.”

He still struggles a bit, but after some tugging, he manages to yank the zipper closed.

“Ugh, _thank you_.” He huffs, crashing back onto the floor. “Pain in the ass. This whole wedding’s a mess – dad’s all stressed out, Ignis has been textin’ me all day about trying not to throttle Noct in his sleep, and Prompto hasn’t stopped crying since the treaty got announced – but Noct can’t know he’s upset because then Noct’ll be upset and ugh.”

“I’m sorry, Gladdy. It must really suck – Prompto and Noctis are really close – I mean, you all are.”

“Yeah, but Prompto and Noct had a lot goin’ on. They were good for each other – but six forbid Noctis actually marry someone he loves.”

“I mean – he does care about Lady Lunafreya, doesn’t he?”

“She’s always been more of a big sister to him. He says it’s kind of weird.”

“That sucks.” Iris frowns, “I’d hate if dad made either of us marry someone we didn’t want to. I’d kick and scream, actually.”

“Hah, you and me both, sis.” Gladio says, “Guess we’re lucky enough that we don’t really gotta worry about that. I just have to find someone to pop out some kids with, and we’re good.”

“Yeah. I guess I kind of do too, though, huh?”

“Nah. I mean, unless you want to. Like unless I super fuck up, you’re free to do whatever.”

Iris ponders for a minute, staring at the floor as she still sits atop of the suitcase.

“Does that mean I can date girls?”

Gladio pauses for a moment, looking at Iris with slight curiosity.

“Yeah. Why? Is that what you wanna do?”

She gives a quiet nod, fingers grasping onto the fabric of her skirt. Gladio and Iris were close, and they were able to talk about pretty much _anything_ together, so she didn’t know why all of a sudden she felt really nervous. Even more so because Gladio wasn’t a stranger to the concept of sexuality – it made no sense why she felt so afraid of telling him that she didn’t think she would ever be interested in boys.

“I think so.” She speaks up after a moment of silence, in an attempt to collect her thoughts. “Um – there’s a really nice girl at school. She and I… well, we’ve been spending a lot of time together the last couple of months.”

“The one who’s always in your social media posts? She’s got the short red hair, and she’s brown, right?”

“Y-Yeah! Mars. I’ve brought her over a couple of times.”

“I remember her. She was nice, super shy though.” Gladio sits cross legged on the floor, all into what Iris has to say. She’s relieved that he’s so nonchalant about it. “You crushin’?”

Iris finds herself blushing, looking away from Gladio as she tries to find an answer to his question.

“I think she’s my girlfriend, but I don’t really know. A few weeks ago, she kissed me and we… we kiss a lot now. Whenever we say hello, or goodbye. When we’re just sitting around doing nothing – and we tell each other that we love each other a lot in our text messages.”

“Sounds pretty serious, sis.”

“Yeah – I… I really like her.”

She knew that the chances of her first and only relationship lasting out of high school and into marriage were slim. But for now, she really did think that she loved Mars.

She feels embarrassed telling her brother all of this, but he’s genuinely interested and that’s all she could ask for. And truthfully, it felt _really_ damn good to be able to tell someone all of this. At school, things weren’t as secretive, but talking about her relationships with other girls seemed like it would be inappropriate to discuss with her family at the dinner table. She didn’t think her father would care too much, but there was something so frightening about trying to be upfront about how she felt. She thought that if she took a boy home, she’d have the same dilemma.

Gladio had been in her shoes, though, so he understood. It was validating for her.

“Well, Iris – I’m happy for you. If she brightens your day, then keep chasin’ after her. I know you’re still young, but it could work out.” Gladio reaches out to give Iris a reassuring pat on the knee. “And don’t stress about liking girls. Dad and I love you no matter what.”

“You’re not going to tell him, are you?”

“Nah, not my place.” He says, “He’d probably be happy that you told him, though. But – you only do that when you’re ready, okay? If you don’t feel comfortable yet, that’s fine. Keep seein’ Mars, though, and make sure she knows how lucky she is to be dating an Amicitia.”

A wide smile spreads across Iris’s face, eyes welling with tears. She can’t help herself as she throws herself on top of her brother, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, knocking them both to the floor. Gladio whines about it for a moment, but relaxes as his arms find their way around her waist.

“Thank you, Gladdy – you’re the best.”

“Ahhh – anytime, sis.”

* * *

 

Seven years since Insomnia’s fall, and things weren’t necessarily looking too good. Noctis had been gone for those years, and the sun stopped rising all together. The death of the Oracle proved to be hard for most of humanity, as it left most of the planet vulnerable to daemons. The only area in Lucis that was relatively safe and free from monsters was Lestallum. 

Iris found herself daemon slaying for money, these days, and she’d become one of the most respected women in all of Eos. It had its perks, such as a nice apartment even though she was rarely in it, finding herself by Hammerhead much more often.

She fought by Cor’s side for the most part, and the two of them were an unstoppable duo. They’d occasionally get help from Aranea, or the boys, but it was rare these days. Noctis’s disappearance proved to be hard for Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto, and was causing strife in their relationship – but Iris had high hopes. She knew Noctis would return one day, and they’d get to go back to their normal lives after Ardyn’s defeat.

It wasn’t easy – she lost her father, her home, and a majority of her loved ones in just _one day_. Then came the deaths that began occurring when the sun stopped rising.

With Insomnia’s fall, Iris had no idea who made it out of the city alive or not. She lost contact with Mars after she was escorted out of the crown city, and Iris could only assume that she was dead. All of those events happening at once hurt so terribly, Iris didn’t think she’d _ever_ make it this far.

She didn’t give up on love when she stopped hearing from her first girlfriend. The women in Lestallum were _gorgeous_ , and they were so lovely and strong willed. These were the women that Iris wanted to be like, and now that she was older, in her early twenties, she found that she achieved her goal quite nicely.

She sported a side cut, her hair having grown a lot since she was a teenager. It was thicker, and adorned with layers that flowed beautifully in the wind. Following in her brother’s footsteps, she decided to get a tattoo – a large one that spread from both biceps around her neck; flowers of her favorite species decorated her body; it took nearly two years to complete, but she was satisfied with the end result. She was also _much_ more muscular than she was as a teenager. No where near as buff as her brother, but she sported some nice definition on her arms, and in her legs.

She was unrecognizable if you hadn’t seen her in such a long time.

She frequents a café that serves her favorite dessert, one of the few in Lestallum. It was much easier to get a hold of in Insomnia, so she had to take what she could get. She sort of had something going on with the cute barista, but the barista wasn’t sure if she wanted to be with a woman for the rest of her life; some insecurities kept her from achieving things she didn’t know if she wanted.

It’s this café that she sees a head of red hair pass by – and it’s not like there weren’t people with red hair around, it was such a common hair color, but it’s the way this woman carries herself. She’s got a timid aura about her, and when she turns around and Iris is met with green eyes, she _gasps_.

She springs up from the table, pushing through four of five people to make it to the café bar. Iris can hardly believe it, but it’s _her_ – it is, it really is.

“Mars!”

The redhead stares at Iris in disbelief, like she doesn’t quite know who this is, but at the same time she does. Mars studies Iris for a moment before her eyes widen, and it hits her.

“No way…!”

The two women throw their arms around one another, and Iris embraces Mars tightly. She feels exactly how she did seven years ago, and it makes her heart sing.

“I-I thought you were gone. I tried to get in contact with you – for so long – but I –“

Mars pulls back wiping tears from her eyes. She’s smiling though, and Iris can’t help but follow suit.

“I’m so sorry, Iris. My… my home was destroyed in one of the attacks, and my phone went with it. My family retreated to Altissia to meet with the Oracle, and we got stranded there for _years_.”

“Mars… I’m sorry.”

“I’m alright. My parents managed to make it back with me. I only reached Lestallum about a year or two ago.” She says, reaching for Iris’s hands. “I’m so glad to see that you survived, though. I’m… I’m so relieved.”

Iris gives Mars’s hands a gentle squeeze, not wanting to ever let go.

“I’m happy too. I just – I can’t believe it! You’re _here_!”

“I know – it’s surreal. But – Iris, my _goodness_ , you’re a bombshell!”

“It’s nothing! God, we gotta catch up! Can I buy you a drink, or something? Unless you’re busy – do you have a new number? Phone service sucks these days, but like I – “

She finds herself talking a mile a minute, and Mars giggles, shaking her head.

“I’m not goin’ anywhere. I’d _love_ if you bought me a drink – and I can give you my number. Seven years…” She huffs, “You gotta tell me everything.”

“Oh, I _will_. You ever hear of Iris the Daemon Slayer?” She asks, “Because I got a _story_ for you!”

“No shit! That’s you?!”

“You know it, babe!”

Iris links her arm with Mars’s as they find a seat in the café. She knew it was far fetched – that they could pick up where they left off and live life to their fullest potential, especially in this sad excuse for a planet, but at the very least Iris wanted to reconnect. She missed her friends from high school, sometimes, and even though she had a wonderful support group now, it would’ve been nice to be around some more people her own age.

She loved being around her brother and their friends, and Cor, Talcott too – but something was missing.

Iris thinks that she’s found it again, and that maybe this world of ruin has some hope left in it after all.

**Author's Note:**

> follow my tumblr [pepsipink](http://www.pepsipink.tumblr.com) & twitter ([sodapopcore](http://www.twitter.com/sodapopcore))


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